The First Century of the International Commission on Mathematical Instruction (1908-2008)

The aim of this website is to highlight the most significant events and key figures of the ICMI in the course of the past one hundred years, through documents, images and interviews. The website is divided into the following six sections (some of which are divided into subsections): Timeline; Portrait Gallery; Documents; The Affiliated Study Groups; The International Congresses on Mathematical Education; Interviews and Film Clips. The Timeline is divided into two levels, the first of which is more concise and presents essential facts, while the second is more detailed. Its aim is to identify the most significant moments in the history of the ICMI (people, congresses, interactions with other entities, etc.). It presents the chronology in a simple way, does not interpret but rather sets forth facts that are supported by references. Each fact is amply documented, with references to L’Enseignement Mathématique (and links to its website), the Commission’s official publication, to the ICMI Bulletins, to the Internationale Mathematische Nachrichten, and to all other documentation that was deemed of interest. The Portrait Gallery is divided into two subsections, the first of which presents the complete list of the officers of the ICMI and the cameos of those who are no longer living, while the second presents those of people who were awarded honorary membership during the ICM in Oslo (1936). Very precise criteria were used in compiling the biographies so as to respect the nature and aims of the website. The goal was to make evident each person’s role within the ICMI, his contributions to research on the problems of teaching, and his publications expressly dedicated to education. authors At present, the section dedicated to Documents contains the publications of the Central Committee, with links to digitalised versions in .pdf format (I have brought the originals with me to display in the small stand dedicated to the History of the ICMI for those of you who would like to see them); the texts of the questionnaires used during inquiries and the relative reports, with links to L’Enseignement Mathématique; the list of the ICMI Studies and their relative volumes; the ICMI Bulletins, with links to the ICMI website where the Bulletins from no. 39 forward are available. Scanning of the earliest bulletins is now underway by a team at the Institut für Didaktik der Mathematik in Bielefeld under the aegis of the International Mathematical Union. Other documents will be added: the texts of the successive terms of reference of the ICMI, bibliographic information, archival documentation, etc. The section dedicated to Affiliated Study Groups (HPM, ICTMA, IOWME, PME, and WFNMC) presents their history beginning with their creation, in some cases supplemented by an ample photo gallery. The section dedicated to the ICME Congresses, which must still be completed, lists the ten congresses that have taken place up to now and offers general information about each, with complete bibliographical references for the Proceedings and their contents, and the Resolutions of the Congress. The final section, Interviews and Film Clips, is dedicated to the testimony of some of the protagonists of the history of the ICMI – Emma Castelnuovo, Trevor Fletcher, Geoffrey Howson, Maurice Glaymann, Jean-Pierre Kahane, Heinz Kunle, André Revuz, Bryan Thwaites – who describe, through their own experiences and the people they knew, little known aspects of this history.